I will ban the sale of marijuana in Burnaby until I am confident that it poses no harm to the citizens in the city and children in schools. (另專文: 本拿比优先联盟 刘智达谈治安消防、大麻议题) 如有任何垂詢，請掃碼 進BFC(本拿比优先联盟) 2018市選群，謝謝。
Current occupation: Digital Media
Tell us about yourself.
Charter Lau often visits areas that are experiencing extreme hardships, visiting the homeless and acting as a Trustee with a legal defense fund for victims of unjust child removal. Most of my time is spent advocating for topics that are near to my heart, topics such as municipal services, roads, hospital service, and policing keeping pace with the population. The tragedy of Demovictions is one of my most concerning topics.
What are the top three issues in Burnaby right now and what would you do to fix them?
- Diversity. Our community is diverse, but our political office is not. This is not good for democracy. Who is keeping them honest? It’s true that this is a result of elections, but if any party finds themselves in total control, I would think that they would go out of their way to consult the community and open the books, not slam the door shut. I am working on this now by running in this election. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll be watching and securitizing all that I can.
- Coordinated road maintenance! No new North-south traffic flow improvement has been delivered for years. What has been delivered is increased traffic congestion and driver frustration. We cannot continue to go backward. Like planning finances for future needs, we can also plan our infrastructure for the future. By being proactive, I want to get us ahead of the game.
- Housing. Building concrete jungles is one thing, but we also need to make better use of what we have already. I will work hard to increase co-op housing and to make amendments to the second-suit bylaws to increase the supply of rental stock. I will also introduce a home-share program to provide affordable housing for young people who are able to companion and support for elderly people who live in bigger houses with room to spare.
If you have run for office before, what have you learned? If you have not, why are you running now?
I have run in the civic election before. I’ve learned the sad fact that some parties can compensate for ineffective or stale policies by having a huge campaign budget, and win. For example, due to the union and corporate donation, the other slate in the 2014 election received more than ten times the funding but nowhere near ten times the votes.
What are one achievement and one failure of Burnaby council in the last four years?
I like the idea of preserving parklands and I appreciate the current council’s efforts on this matter. A problem occurs by increasing taxes year after year but only delivering only the same or less. The RCMP to population ratio is not keeping up. It is nice to accumulative a massive a “surplus” but this is nothing to brag about if we are falling behind in so many other ways.
What would make you a good councillor?
The world is much bigger than we often realize. It is to our benefit to take good ideas from all over the world and apply them in a way that works locally, for Burnaby. We have one of the most diverse communities in the world, and this requires a diversity of ideas.
What movie is most relevant to your life and why?
The Life of Pi. When one leaves their country of birth and immigrates to Canada, great relationships can develop by trusting those who at first seemed very unfamiliar. This exact plot doesn’t match my experience, but the overall theme matches very well.
目前職業：數字媒體
向我們介紹你自己。
我經常訪問正在經歷極度困難的地區和無家可歸者，也是為受不公正的對待的兒童受害者安置提供法律辯護基金受託人。我的大部分時間都花在我倡導和關心的主題上，包括市政服務，道路，醫院服務以及與人口保持同步的警務。 公寓拆遷戶的悲劇是我最關注的話題之一。
現在本拿比的三大問題是什麼？你會採取什麼措施來解決這些問題？
1.多樣性。我們的社區是多元化的，但我們現在的政治反應出來的不是。這對民主不利。誰能保證他們誠實？確實，這是選舉的結果，但如果任何一黨發現自己已經掌控一切，他們會主動地去諮詢社區或翻書學習嗎？更可能的是閉門造車。我想通過參加這次選舉來解決這個問題。無論結果如何，我都會關注並證明我能做的一切。
2.道路維護需要協調好！多年來南北交通未見新的改善措施。反而是交通堵塞更嚴重和駕駛員的無奈和憤怒。我們不能繼續倒退了。像規劃為未來需求財務一樣，我們也可以為未來規劃我們的基礎設施。通過積極主動，讓我們凡事領先一步。
3.住房。目前大量建造混凝土“叢林”是個問題，我們需要更好地利用我們已經擁有的住房。我將努力增加合作社住房，並修改二套法規以增加出租房庫存。我還將介紹一項家庭共享計劃，為年輕人提供經濟適用房，這些年輕人能夠為居住在較大房屋中的老年人提供陪伴和支持。
如果你以前競選過公職，你學到了什麼？如果你還沒有，你為什麼現在去競選？
我之前參加過公職選舉。我已經了解到一個令人遺憾的事實，即一些政黨可以通過擁有龐大的競選預算來彌補其無效或陳舊的政策，並獲勝。例如，由於工會和企業捐贈，2014年大選中的一個獲得的資金超過了十倍的黨，但得票的遠不及十倍。
在過去四年中，本拿比市議會的一項成就和一次失敗是什麼？
我喜歡保護公園的想法，我很欣賞現任委員會在此事上的努力。但是年復一年地增加稅收只會產生相同或更少的稅收。加拿大皇家騎警與人口的比例沒有跟上。如果我們在許多其他方面落後，那就沒什麼值得吹噓的了。
什麼會讓你成為一名優秀的議員？
世界比我們經常意識到的要大得多。我們可以從世界各地來到本地的人們各種想法獲益，集思廣益，讓他們適應以本地工作的方式為本拿比做出貢獻。我們擁有世界上最多樣化的社區之一，這需要多樣化的想法。
什麼電影與你的生活最相關，為什麼？
少年Pi奇幻漂流記。當一個人離開他們的出生國並移民到加拿大時，可以通過相信那些最初看起來非常陌生的人來建立良好的關係。這個電影情節與我的經驗不符，但整體主題非常相似。